Bottle case partition



April 13, 1954 E. F. DELINE ET AL 2,675,167

BOTTLE CASE PARTITION Filed Oct. 27, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS..50M/v /'a /NE Roy /17 Pm CA Arroz/Vey April 13, 1954 E. F. DELINE ET AL2,675,167

BOTTLE CASE PARTITION Filed Oct. 27, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mmm/frPatented Apr. 13, 1954 UNITED sTATas earENT OFFICE BOTTLE CASE PARTITIONEdwin F. libeline and Roy M. Flack, Denver, Colo. Appiication October27, 1950, Serial No. 192,481

1 Claim. l.

This invention relates to a bottle crate, and more particularly to abottle-separating partition for bottle crates. The usual bottle cratepartition consists of a plurality oi intersecting partition membersdeiining separate'compartments for the bottles. Such partition membershave not been satisfactory for use with modern bottle packing machines.A bottle packing machine rapidly and simultaneously lowers the entirecase load into the case. If the case or the partitions therein are outof line with the descending bottles, the latter will not enter theircompartments and will tilt and clog the packaging machine.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a bottle casepartition structure which need not be in alignment with the descendingbottles, but which will act to guide the individual bottles into theircompartments regardless of misalign ment of the case or partitions. f

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatically aligningpartition structure which can be cut froma continuous sheet of cardboardor the like without waste.

A further object is to provide highly eihcien't interlocking means forsecuring the lateral partition members to the longitudinal partitionmembers.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bottle carton with the improvedpartition structure in place therein;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating a portion of the partitionstructure on an enlarged scale, illustrating the automatic action ofaligning a bottle with the compartments in the partition structure;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a cardboard blank, illustrating the method ofblanking the improved partition members therefrom; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the partition structure, illustrating theaction of a misaligned bottle thereon.

In Fig. 1 a typical bottle carton is illustrated at I0, and in Figs. 2and e a typical bottle is illustrated at I I.

of the longitudinal members simultaneously forms a corresponding seriesof notches I5 in the bottom edge of each strip I2.

s The same method of cutting is used for the lateral partition membersI3, that is, they are cut to form a series of points I 6 along the upperedges, and a corresponding series of notches i1 along the lower edges.This method of cutting avoids waste of the cardboard, since each zigzagcut line forms the upper edge of one strip and the lower edge ofanother.

At the extremity of each strip a horizontal cut line I8 is formed inalignment with the points along the lower edge of each member, which incooperation with the inclined adjacent cut leaves small triangularpieces I9, which are discarded. The longitudinal members I2 areseparated from the transverse members I3 by means o f a continuous,longitudinal cut line 20 extending throughout the length of thecardboard blank.

A slot 2I is stamped from the cardboard at the apex of each notch I5 inthe longitudinal members I2, and a similar slot 22 extends downwardlyfrom each point I6 of the lateral members I3. The width of the slots 2|and 22 corresponds substantially to the thickness of the cardboard fromwhich the members are stamped.

The slots 22 in the lateral members i3 extend further into the memberthan the slots 2l extend into the longitudinal members. The reason forthis difference in length is to allow points 23 in the slots 22 toextend into holes 2d formed at the extremities of the slots 2l to lockthe transverse partition members I3 to the longitudinal partitionmembers I2 when the structure is assembled.

The partition members cut from the cardboard strip are assembled inrectangular relation, as shown in Fig. 4, by slipping the longitudinalmembers downwardly into the slots 22 until the slots 2l pass over thelower portions of the lateral members I 3, and until the points 23 snapinto engagement in the holes 24. This produces a plurality of squarecompartments with a foursided peak or point 25 at the corners of eachcompartment, formed by the points I 4 and I'I.

and with indented notches 26 in the upper edges of each side wall ofeach compartment formed by the valleys between the peaks 25. The notches26 are V-shaped, straight-sided, and preferably have an included angleof 80. At the bottom, the corners of each compartment incline upwardly,due to formation of the notches l5.

The straight, inclined sides of the notches 26 in the upper edges of,the four sides of each compartment cooperate with the round bottoms ofthe bottles Il to produce what is in eiect four inclined planes alldirected downwardly and inwardly toward the axis of each compartment.These empirical, inclined planes have the effect of forcing a bottlewhich is descending in misalignment with its compartment, as shown inbroken line in Figs. 2 and 4, toward the axis of that compartment, asshown in solid line in the latter figures. This action is very definiteand positive, yet is exceedingly diicult to illustrate or describe. Itisdue to the fact that the notches 26 continually become narrower as thebottle descends. Therefore, the chord or an imaginary line drawn acrossthe bottom of the bottle where it valigns with the partition mustcontinually becomeshorter in order that the bottle may move downwardly.As 'the chord becomes shorter, the axis of the bottle must move'inwardly toward the axis o'f the pocket. Therefore, the bottle isautomatically forced into alignment with the pocket axis as it descends.

If the sides of the notches are inclined very gradually, the `more rapidwill be the movement of the bottle toward the axis of the compartment.However, gradual sides require a greater weight of bottle. It has beenfound by experiment that an inclined angle of approximately 80 is themost satisfactory for the usual bottle.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied,vwithin the scope of the appended claim, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desiredsecu-red by Letters Patent A partition structure foibottle cartonscomprising a plurality of longitudinal partition members formed of sheetmaterial and disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other, aplurality of transverse partition members formed of sheet material anddisposed in spaced parallel relation to each other, said longitudinaland transverse partition members being disposed at right angles to eachother to form rows of rectangular bottle receiving cells, all of saidpartition members having zig-zag upper and lower edges providing thepartition members with upwardly tapered points along their upper edgesand with upwardly tapered inverted V-shaped recesses along their loweredges disposed directly beneath the points of the upper edges, saidlongitudinal partition members having vertical slots extending upwardlyfrom the top of the recesses formed in their lower edges, saidtransverse partition members having vertical slots extending downwardlyfrom the apices of the points formed in their upper edges, eachpartition member being also formed with openings disposed in alignmentwith the respective slots and Vin spaced relation with respect to theinner ends of the respective slots and each opening being connected toits companion slot by a narrow slit, the crossed portions of thepartition members being disposed through the respective slots and eachpartition member having the portions along the opposite sides of itsslits fitting into the openings vof the partition member that itcrosses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED ySTATES PATENTES lNumber Name A 1 Date D. 138,782 Schwartzberg Sept. 12, 1944 760,842Bischoff May `24, 1904 929,604 Kruse July 27, 1909 1,605,426 CaldwellNov. f2, 1926 1,808,531 Coyle June 2, 1931 2,293,893 Faulkner Aug, 2 5,1942 2,486,743 Hainer Nov. l, 1949

